The South African Railways Class 24 2-8-4 of 1949 is a steam locomotive.

In 1949 and 1950, the South African Railways placed 100 branch line steam locomotives with a 2-8-4 Berkshire type wheel arrangement in service.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1947). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, May 1947. pp. 403-404.

Manufacturer By the late 1940s, the South African Railways (SAR) still had a comparatively large mileage of track. In South West Africa, where most of the locomotive fleet consisted of Classes 6, 7, GC and GCA, there were still hundreds of miles of track. Considering the increasing age of these locomotives, the options were either to relay these tracks with rail or to obtain new light branch line locomotives suitable for use on the existing track.

The Class 24 2-8-4 Berkshire type branch line steam locomotive was designed by Dr. M.M. Loubser, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR from 1939 to 1949. The locomotives were built by North British Locomotive Company (NBL) of Glasgow, who delivered 100 of them in 1949 and 1950, numbered in the range from 3601 to 3700. The cast engine main frames and the Buckeye bogies for the tenders were supplied by General Steel Castings of Eddystone, Pennsylvania.North British Locomotive Company works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard SchmeiserS.A.R. Class 24 2-8-4 South African Transport March 1971 pages 164-165

One of these locomotives, no. 3675, was the 2,000th locomotive to be built by NBL for the SAR and, to commemorate this milestone, a ceremony was conducted in Cape Town to name the locomotive Bartholomew Diaz after the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias who landed at the Cape of Good Hope in May 1488 and named it the Cape of Storms (Cabo das Tormentas). The ceremony was attended by the South African Minister of Transport and heads of departments of the SAR, as well as by the chairman and managing director of NBL.

Characteristics The Class 24 had a one-piece cast-steel main frame which was cast integrally with the cylinders, including the cylinder hind covers, smokebox support frame, stays and various brackets, all of which would normally be separate items riveted or bolted onto the frames. Advantages of this arrangement are reduced maintenance and less time spent in shops. It was the first South African steam locomotive to be built using this technique.

They were built with Watson Standard no. 1 boilers, while their double hopper type ashpans were specially designed to clear the four-wheeled trailing bogies. Their specially designed Type MY tenders were similar in appearance to the Type MX and the North American Vanderbilt type tenders, with cylindrical water tanks. The tenders rode on three-axle Buckeye bogies to reduce the axle load and, along with the Type MX, became commonly known as Torpedo tenders.South African Railways & Harbours/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweë en Hawens (15 Aug 1941). Locomotive Diagram Book/Lokomotiefdiagramboek, 3'6" Gauge/Spoorwydte. SAR/SAS Mechanical Department/Werktuigkundige Dept. Drawing Office/Tekenkantoor, Pretoria. pp. VIII, 46.South African Railways & Harbours/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweë en Hawens (15 Aug 1941). Locomotive Diagram Book/Lokomotiefdiagramboek, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge/Spoorwydte, Steam Locomotives/Stoomlokomotiewe. SAR/SAS Mechanical Department/Werktuigkundige Dept. Drawing Office/Tekenkantoor, Pretoria. pp. VIII, 6a-7a, 28A, 46.

The piston valves were actuated by Walschaerts valve gear and the standard SAR type steam reversing gear was arranged on the right-hand side. The engine and tender were both equipped with vacuum brakes and the engine's two diameter vacuum cylinders were arranged outside the engine's frame and under the running boards, one on either side. The valve gear, brake gear and coupled wheel hubs were soft grease lubricated, while the bronze axle boxes had hard grease lubrication. The leading and trailing bogies were fitted with roller bearing axle boxes while the tender's bogies used plain bearings.

Service The Class 24 was built to replace the old Classes 6, 7 and 8 locomotives in branch line service on light rail. When they were introduced, an elaborate programme was drawn up to show on which systems and on what sections they were to be employed. The Cape Western System, on the Saldanha-Kalbaskraal, Porterville-Hermon and Prince Alfred Hamlet-Wolseley sections. The Cape Midland System, on the Knysna-George, Alexandra-Barkly Bridge, Kirkwood-Addo and Somerset East-Cookhouse sections. The Orange Free State System, on the Dover-Vredefort, Wolwehoek-Arlington-Marquard, Theunissen-Winburg, Westleigh-Orkney and Vierfontein-Bultfontein sections. The Eastern Transvaal System, on the Soekmekaar-Komatipoort, Barberton-Kaapmuiden, Middelburg-Stoffberg, Brits-Beestekraal and Zebediela-Naboomspruit sections. The South West Africa System, on the De Aar-Karasburg and Keetmanshoop-Windhoek sections.

Most of them went to the South West Africa System, where 55 of them would be in operation. From some time between 1955 and 1959, they were also employed on the Keetmanshoop-Walvisbaai section. They remained in that territory until 1961, when strengthening of the track and the complete dieselisation of the South West Africa System made them available to be employed elsewhere.

Other branch lines to be served by the Class 24 include Breyten to Lothair, Nylstroom to Vaalwater, Port Elizabeth to Alexandra and George to Knysna. As a relatively powerful locomotive, they were also useful as suburban locomotives, a role they served in on the Springs-Nigel commuter line until electrification. Some eventually also worked on the Selati line in the Transvaal Lowveld. Heavy overhauls were done at Bloemfontein. The only province where they were unknown was Natal.

The Calvinia and Sakrivier branches had been worked almost exclusively by Class 19C locomotives from about 1950, but from 1951 two Class 24s were also allocated to Beaufort West and sub-shedded at Hutchinson. After February 1963, this was reduced to one Class 24 locomotive until long after the branch was dieselised c. 1960, using Class locomotives based at De Aar. For some six months in the latter half of 1969, the Calvinia and Sakrivier branches reverted to steam-only operation when there was a huge surge in ore traffic that required the drafting in of more Class locomotives to the Port Elizabeth mainline. A pair of Class 24 locomotives temporarily worked those branches in 1969 and 1970 as relief engines during the diesel-electric locomotive shortage.Soul of A Railway, System 1, Part 15: Calvinia, Sakrivier, Porterville and Saldanha branches by Charlie Lewis. Caption 22. (Accessed on 9 May 2017)

Preservation

The following is a list of 24 class that have survived into preservation. 1 January 2019

Number Works nmr. THF / Private Leaselend / Owner Current Location Outside South Africa Notes 3606 NBl 26318 THF Voorbaai Locomotive Depot 3608 NBL 26320 Private Calvinia Museum Calvinia Museum 3611 NBL 26323 Private TransNamib Ltd Keetmanshoop Locomotive Depot Namibia 3612 NBL 26324 Private TransNamib Ltd Keetmanshoop Locomotive Depot Namibia 3620 NBL 26332 Private Ian Welch & The Q Train Bellarine RailwayLoco’s nationwide road trip Narrow Gauge World issue 147 May 2020 page 15 Australia Purchased by Main Line Steam Trust, Auckland, New Zealand in 1997,Locomotives to New Zealand Continental Railway Journal issue 108 January 1997 page 517 sold to Cairns, Australia in 2001Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 762 April 2001 page 153 3631 NBL 26343 Private Ian Welch Bloemfontein Locomotive Depot 3632 NBL 26344 Private Ian Welch & Dylan Knott Robertson, WC (NCCR) 3635 NBL 26347 THF Voorbaai Locomotive Depot 3638 NBL 26350 Private National Parks Board Kruger National Park 3645 NBL 26357 THF Krugersdorp Locomotive Depot 3647 NBL 26359 Private Greg McLennan Germiston Locomotive Depot 3654 NBL 26366 THF Steamnet 2000 Kimberley Locomotive Depot 3655 NBL 26367 Private Grant Bradley Voorbaai Locomotive Depot (Southern Cape Railway) 3664 NBL 26376 THF Hermanstad (station) Sectioned for display 3667 NBL 26379 THF Queenstown Locomotive Depot 3668 NBL 26380 THF Transnet Heritage Foundation Outiniqua Transport Museum Selected as Transnet Heritage Foundation representative of the class (National Collection) 3675 NBL 26387 THF Voorbaai Locomotive Depot 3688 NBL 26400 THF Sandstone Estate Sandstone Estate 3689 NBL 26401 Private Greg McLennan Voorbaai Locomotive Depot 3690 NBL 26402 Private Ian Welch Bloemfontein Locomotive Depot

References

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